Blossom-raven - Raven

So true, so true

this is how their talk went right

The world islands in Dubai are a perfect example of that kind of pointless construction project bc they do, now, have a commercial resort operating. One commercial project. Open after fourteen years. Another remains in construction. Other than that there's a house...for display, to entice people to buy an island, and a house they gave away to someone

Here's a helpful Wikipedia map of everything on the islands

(tourism puff pieces about this place are fun bc they'll list EIGHT things you can do at the World Islands! And then in the text admit all eight are on one single island out of 200+ bc that's the only one with anything on it)

When they were announced people had a lot of knee-jerk criticism about the horrible environmental impact, and how they would inevitably sink/erode, and all of that shallow, immediate criticism was absolutely true.

The bigger miscalculation is that they were trying to cater to people with private island money. But people with private island money can afford to travel the actual world, and not have to build a fake one on a tiny island. People with private island money tend to like having islands that are actually private, and not islands that are packed in tightly in a dense thicket of identical private islands, not in the open seas but just in a city's bay.

Compare those Chinese theme parks that replicate world monuments. Window of the World etc. People mock those, but they're hugely popular, in part bc of the innate human love of kitschy bullshit, but also bc your average Chinese citizen is not ever going to be able to travel to every landmark in the world. Your average local in any country will never have the resources or time for that. By comparison the type of person being courted by those islands has summer houses at every landmark in the world

The websites for the World can't even make a clear sales pitch bc afaik they were all bought ages ago & the owners are sitting on them. They can't even go "hey, billionaire, come buy an island!" bc it's owned by some tourism company since 2007. One of the first stories about it I saw interviewed some Irish company that bought the Ireland island to turn into a Ireland-themed resort, held up as an example of what's possible, and a year later they gave up, and just held onto the Irish island forever while it eroded away as part of a multi-billion dollar chain of untouched eroding artificial ghost islands

These are the images they use to promote it. This is what they feel is the "good side" that will entice people

Why would one ban leaves leaves are worker mental health support wrrr

Here's a fun story of malicious compliance to brighten your day:

Until recently, a few people in my office had these desk shades to combat the obnoxious fluorescent lights, which is very helpful for people (like me) with migraines or other light-sensitivity issues.

A few days ago, everyone who has them was told to take them down. Different people were given different reasons - It violates fire code (it doesn't) / It blocks line of sight (sort of?). Since this goes against the existing status quo, the union reps (my beloved) jumped on it. Someone jokingly suggested using umbrella hats instead, since hats are allowed in the dress code. Today, the union reps are passing out these ridiculous things in protest:

If the rules are absurd, the resistance should match.

in much more interesting news, today at work I got to explore an abandoned 500-year-old castle, seized by the state because of the owner's massive tax evasion

we spent an hour and half going all over the grounds, I'd never felt so #urbex

hooking up with a tgirl in a dangerous location, call that frot with peril

wip

me in middle school: yes of course I am A Boy

also me in middle school:

Woof! Aweed!

7 ryonders of the world